15 new Netflix originals to keep you busy this May

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Alta Mar – May 24

This is Netflix’s fourth Spanish original series and information about it is as mysterious as its plot. Described as a “mystery with melodrama,” Alta Mar – or “High Seas” – follows a murder investigation aboard a luxury liner bound for Brazil from Spain in the 1940s. “A murder is committed – of a woman passenger not on the passenger list and whom no one remembers. Only one thing seems certain: The murderer cannot leave the ship.” Given the high drama tone and the lavish period setting, it sounds like a Spanish Agatha Christie novel.

While the series is meant to appeal to all ages and demographics, the Agatha Christie-style plot will certainly delight older viewers while the melodrama aspect is meant to attract female soap opera fans. Despite the lavish period set design, the series as a whole is shot with handheld viewing in mind, preferring close-ups and medium shots that play best on phone screens over the wide frame takes that would show off production design. While it does sound like the producers are making the series more with popularity in mind than anything else, I must say that whatever they’re doing is working. Generic and consumable as it sounds, it also sounds absolutely delightful and fun.